Altman’s Americana
Time magazine’s Richard Schikel and Christian Science Monitor’s David Sterritt are among those who have said that filmmaker Robert Altman captures in his films the essence of American life, its uncertainties and its confusion. This accurate interpretation and summary of Robert Altman’s talent as a filmmaker can be exemplified by the realities he has created in THE PLAYER, MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER, SHORT CUTS and NASHVILLE. The first of these films, THE PLAYER, is about a Hollywood movie industry executive, Griffen Mill, who murders a screenwriter, because Mill thinks the writer has been sending him anonymous postcards and threatening his life. Mill tracks down the unsuccessful and unproduced writer, buys the man a drink then ends up killing him and covering up the murder by making it look like a robbery. The “Player,” Mill, escapes murder charges, because an eye-witness identifies the homicide detective, played by Lyle Lovitt, as the murderer. Mill escaped the accusations an...